Petraeus Report: Symptoms vs Causes

Don’t be fooled by all the hype surrounding testimony from General David Petraeus. In my opinion, this is little more than drama – a political soap opera – distracting us all from the real issue.

The interviews and discussions have involved some heated rhetoric about whether or not the “surge” is “working” in Iraq, but at the end of the day, this is just theater, and almost nothing will change.

US Senators are not generally inclined to stand up and oppose the opinions of a General – even if that general is little more than a politicians, like Dave Petreaus is.

I’ve already seen some powerful statistics on both sides of the issue. Everyone from Petraeus to MoveOn.org, to Talking Points Memo have analyzed the “results” of the war escalation.

Debates about this theatrical display will undoubtedly go on for some time. People from all viewpoints will take one side or the other – either the surge is working or it isn’t. Right?

So the politicians and the media present us with two choices. But all this back-and-forth arguing masks the real choice – the third one – the one that’s never talked about in on TV or in Congress.

What’s that, you might ask? Well, it’s quite simple. They never, ever discuss the role of the Constitution, and what it says about how American foreign policy should be conducted.

You see, the 10th Amendment clearly states that any power not specifically listed in the Constitution cannot be exercised by the federal government. Therefore, here’s a couple (of the many) key things that the federal government is doing that is unconstitutional.

Occupying Iraq. This war was launched without a Congressional Declaration of War as required by the Constitution. Thus, it was illegal from the start, and any talk about troop movements, increases, or reductions is completely irrelevant. An illegal war is illegal – no matter how it’s waged.

Maintaining Foreign Military Bases. The Constitution permits the “raising” of an army, but nothing, whatsoever, is mentioned about basing an army permanently in countries around the world. The entire US military needs to come home – to protect the United States.

Virtually the entire US foreign policy is in direct violation to the Constitution. It’s all wrong; whether it’s using “foreign aid” to prop up dictators and ruthless regimes, backing coups and assassinations, maintaining a military “presence” in 130+ countries, or waging wars that result in the deaths of millions…..and millions…

The messy bloodbath that is the Iraq war is simply a symptom – a symptom of a nasty disease that’s infected the US government for decades. Until we make some major changes to our foreign policy as a whole, we’re going end up in more and more bloody wars in (not-so-distant?) future.